Hi so
Since I live pretty near to London most people I know are thinking going to uni there, but I'm pretty sick of this area myself and don't reeeeally want to be tied down living with my folks... so I've been thinking of going somewhere a bit further affield.
Anyone have any advice?
Love,
Kat x

Im going to Uni about 7 hours drive away! From near Newcastle (North East) all the way to Brighton on the south coast!
At first I was going to stay at home, just to save money really. But you can't put a price on growing up and the life changing experiances you'll have/gain from Uni.
Everyone I know who has been to Uni told me the same thing: Move Away!
This came from both students who have moved out and away from home and people who stayed at home/ or very local. The people who stayed at home told me if they could do it again they would definatly move away and regretted not doing so.
Of course it is up to you, and depends on what you want to do. Personally, the industy I want to work in is mainly down south so if i didnt move there for Uni, i would one day anyway.
Good luck deciding!

If you find a uni and course you like, go for it. I didn't intend to go so far away, but went on an open day at Winchester and fell in love with it. I am thinking about moving back closer to home at some point because I'm sick of hardly ever seeing my family. I don't think I'd have gained as much independence as I have if I'd been closer to home, or as much confidence.

I moved a 3 hour drive away to London, and I probably regret it a little. I only ever see my family on holidays, as I can't afford it/don't have the time to travel. However, each to their own! Do what you think you'd prefer, OP. Don't base your decision on your friends' though, choose by yourself.xx

I'd really recommend moving away, you get the full experience then and have to depend fully on yourself which is all part of the fun! I was really nervous moving to Sheffield from London, but its great fun and I love exploring a new city and being part of something different from the rest of my family.
The great thing about Uni is you get to move somewhere where there are tonnes of people in the same boat, at the same age also wanting to have a great time. Its hard not to like it!

I want to move away, but not too far away. With my choices, the max distance is about 2 hours from my home town! I think you need a good balance between independence and being away from home, but not being so far away that it's impractical to visit home.

I would want to move out but still be close tbh, it's nice to have the option to come home whenever you want even if you dont use it. But it seems people who aren't very independant benifit massively from moving far away, I've always been very independant even when living at home so don't have the same desire to 'fly the nest.'

But you probably don't want to live at home, it'll be harder to make friends and less fun.

I'd say it depends how close to your family you are.
Even those very close to family should move out or university won't provide the same experience as those that move from home. Its about being independent ^_^

I'm getting the best of both worlds: I live about 25 minutes out of London by train, but LSE offer accommodation to 100% of first years, so I get to live away from home. I can still go home to raid the cupboards/leave my car in a free secure garage/keep bulky or expensive stuff I don't want to take to halls...

My friends who went to university and stayed at home, haven't had any problems. I guess it takes more effort to make friends, and for the social aspect of it, it might be better to move out; but you can still live at home and join loads of societies and clubs, which means you'll hardly be at home anyway.